Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co reported strength from corporate customers and only slight weakness from consumers, dismissing worries about a weakening demand for technology.
Fears persisted concerning the strength of any consumer spending recovery, as growth moderates in Europe and China as well as in the United States according to analysts.
But, even as shares of Dell fell 3 percent and HP fell about 1 percent, executives of both companies waved off such fears.
“We saw better-than-normal quarterly seasonality”, said Cathie Lesjak, HP’s interim chief executive, “as well as good balanced performance across all of our three regions”.
In the conference call to the media, Lesjak also fielded queries on a successor for former CEO Mark Hurd, who resigned a fortnight ago over expense account inaccuracies.
Lesjak confirmed HP is “looking forward, not back” and reiterated that shareholders are behind the company. She also suggested HP was not looking for a leader who would introduce major change.
“When you have a winning strategy, I don’t see the motivation to change it,” she said.
It is not known whether HP will go for an established technology veteran, or try to lure up-and-coming talent as it did with former NCR chief Hurd in 2005. Hurd is credited with reviving the company’s fortunes.
Hurd was lauded by investors for his cost-cutting, but the next CEO of the world’s top technology company by revenue will be expected to ramp up growth.
“Looking ahead, they’re going to start running against tougher comparisons and potential currency pressures, so we’re cautiously optimistic for the second half of the year,” said Gartner analyst Martin Reynolds.
“Although there are troubling signs, we think the technology industry will remain robust”.
